286 EFFECTS OF THE TYPHOON. ([Cuar. XV. 
case, and during these short lulls the vessels roll and 
labour in a dreadful manner, owing to the heavy 
swell of the sea, as they are then entirely at its 
mercy, and have nothing to steady them. 
In the preceding year, this part of the country 
was twice visited by typhoons, viz., on the Ist 
of September and Ist of October. In the island of 
Chusan, where they were particularly violent, the 
most disastrous effects were produced upon the 
crops. The little streams in the island were 
swollen into large rivers, and carried away every 
thing before them. The crops of entire fields, 
chiefly paddy, were in some instances swept away, 
and in others sanded completely up, and rendered 
useless. The patched-up houses of our officers 
who held the island at the time suffered severely. 
During the typhoon of 1844, a house built on the 
beach by one of the officers was actually lifting up, 
and would doubtless have been carried away by 
the force of the wind, but fortunately Brigadier 
Campbell, who was passing at the time, gave the 
alarm, and ordered out a number of men from the 
barracks, who held it down until it was rendered 
more secure. 
The wet and dry seasons in the southern and 
tropical parts of China are more decided in their 
character than they are in the northern portions of 
the Empire. At Hong-kong and in the provinces of 
the south, the winter season, that is, from October 
to March, is generally dry, more particularly in 
November, December, and January. The most wet 
